Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Chinese tangerine peel and California orange peel surround Phoenix Dan Cong (Mi Lan Xiang & Yu Lan Xiang) loose leaf oolong teas lightly coated with orange blossom flower extract and tangerine oil. This tea is part of M&K’s Original 20 Blends.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! This Tangerine Dream Oolong Tea from M&K’s Tea Company has a really lovely tangerine flavor to it. I like how the tangerine complements the Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea.
To brew this, I decided to go ahead and use my Kati Tumbler instead of my gaiwan, mostly because after examining the sampler package, it appeared to be just the right amount of leaf for my tumbler. So I poured the sampler pouch into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of 180°F water. I let it steep for 3 minutes (following a 15 second rinse).
I really like this. The tangerine flavor is not overwhelming. I like that I taste the lovely Oolong tea above the tangerine, but the tangerine is an obvious flavor. It definitely tastes like tangerine. The background suggests flavors of sweet potato and honey. The texture is silky.
And of course, it IS an Oolong so you know I’ve got to resteep it, right? When I resteeped the leaves, I added 30 seconds brew time to it.
The second cup is flavorful, although some of the tangerine notes have waned. I’m still picking up on faint tangerine flavors but this cup is much more about the Oolong than the tangerine. Which is alright because this is a mighty fine Oolong tea!
The tangerine notes are most noticeable in the aftertaste now, where I’m picking up on a lightly sweet, citrus note. This cup is offering a stronger honey taste, although it’s a little less ‘silky’ in texture. The first cup was definitely smoother as I detected no astringency with the first cup, and now I’m getting just a wee bit. Still not a lot of astringency, but I’m noticing a little bit of dryness to this cup.
The flavors are a lot more mellow with this infusion. The sweet potato notes are not as apparent as they were in the previous cup. I’m tasting distant woodsy notes now. This is a different tea than the first cup, but it’s still really enjoyable and definitely worth the effort of the resteep.
Toasted Coconut Black HiCAF™ Tea from The Republic of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Product Description:
Robust black tea with the tropical flavor of coconut. A smooth and delicious pick-me-up. Try with a splash of milk.
A Better Buzz – We’ve intensified the caffeine content of this black tea by adding green tea extract and pure caffeine isolated from premium tea leaves. Caffeine and L-Theanine (often credited with reducing stress) are natural components of tea providing a state of calm alertness we call Tea Mind®.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Toasted Coconut Black HiCAF™ Tea from Republic of Tea offers an interesting concept … I don’t know if this is something that other companies have introduced but this is the first extra caffeine content tea that I’ve seen. Just the right thing for someone who needs that extra burst of energy but can’t drink (or don’t like) coffee and don’t want (or don’t need!) all that extra sugar that’s in those energy drinks.
When I opened the tin, I was greeted by a strong coconut-y aroma. Mmm! It smells amazing! I used boiling water to brew this tea and steeped the tea for 2 1/2 minutes.
I tried this tea first without any additions, and it’s really tasty! It’s got a lot of coconut flavor, and it tastes just like toasted coconut. It tastes true to the fruit. It doesn’t have an artificial coconut taste and that made me smile. It tastes sweet, a little bit creamy, toasty, and nutty.
The tea tastes STRONG. I can really taste the tea. I don’t really taste specific green tea flavors here, I do taste a different tea flavor. A stronger tea flavor. Like the flavor of the tea has been turned up to eleven. The HiCAF™ is not just something that will be “felt” by the added energy boost, but it is also something that is tasted.
However, the “extra caffeine” gives the tea a taste that veers on the side of being almost bitter. Not quite … but almost. So, I decided to do a little experimentation to see what I could do about that. I added a teaspoon of raw sugar and found that this really improved the coconut flavor. It made the toasted coconut flavors pop! Yum! This is good without the sugar, but it does have a slight bitter tone to it … the sugar helps to curb that.
But the best way to drink this tea is as a latte. I added a splash of almond milk and WOW! The milk smooths everything out really nicely. I really like this as a latte. I still get a strong coconut flavor and a lot of tea flavor, but that aforementioned slightly bitter taste is no longer present. It’s sweet, creamy and decadent.
Overall, I really enjoyed this extra caffeine tea from The Republic of Tea. They have some other flavors of the HiCAF™ teas that are quite intriguing too! Um … Caramel Black, anyone?